Baranica breaks pole vault national record at Kalinga Stadium for a second time this year

Kalinga Stadium is proving to be a happy hunting ground for Baranica Elangovan who, on Sunday, added 1cm to her own women’s pole vault national record at the Indian Indoor Open Combined Events and Pole Vault 2026 meet in Bhubaneswar.

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The 29-year-old Indian athlete cleared 4.23m to top the field ahead of Nitika Anup Akare and Blessy Kunjumon, both of whom cleared 3.90m.

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This is the second time that the Kalinga Stadium has proved to be a lucky venue for Baranica this year. Back in March, she had toppled Rosy Meena Paulraj’s previous national record of 4.21m, achieved in 2022.

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According to World Athletics, there’s no distinction between outdoor and indoor events for records in pole vault. However, Elangovan’s effort will need to be ratified by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

The Bhubaneswar athletics meet has seen both the women’s and men’s pole vault records fall. Kuldeep Kumar cleared 5.41m to usurp Dev Meena’s previous mark in the men’s event held on Saturday.

Kuldeep Kumar breaks pole vault national record at Bhubaneswar athletics meet

Meanwhile, Thowfeeq N won the men’s only heptathlon event with a total of 5350 points. Usaid Khan clinched the silver with 5288 while local athlete Jashbir Nayak took bronze with 5250.

Odisha’s Purnima Hembram won the gold in the women’s-only pentathlon event with a combined tally of 3835 points. Isha Chander Prakash (3671) and Bidisha Kundu (3600) won the silver and bronze medals, respectively.